The imprisonment of a Christian preacher in Sweden for offending homosexuals reveals Sweden as a sinister police state eager to deny freedoms of speech and worship, says the Libertarian Alliance, the radical free market and civil liberties think tank and pressure group. It calls on The European Commission to suspend Swedish Membership of the European Union pending a full human rights investigation.

The Facts

Ake Green is pastor of a Pentecostal congregation in Borghol in Sweden. In 2003, he preached a sermon during which he referred to homosexuality as "abnormal, a horrible cancerous tumour in the body of society." He also quoted some of the standard biblical injunctions against homosexuality. He was denounced to the authorities and charged under "hate crime" legislation passed in 2002. He stood trial in June 2004, and was in July sentenced to imprisonment for one month. He remains at liberty, pending appeals into higher courts.

"This is an outrageous attack on rights of speech and worship. It is a denial of some of the most fundamental freedoms that we in Europe at the beginning of the 21st century thought could be taken for granted.

"The Libertarian Alliance calls on the European Commission to suspend Swedish membership of the European Union while a full human rights investigation is mounted in the country. We call on Sweden to be treated as Austria was when it elected a government of the "far right" - though Austria was not accused of having breached any human rights, whereas Sweden glories in its authoritarian bigotry.

"We shall ourselves be making an official submission to the United Nations about this denial of the right to freedom of speech and worship."

Background

The Libertarian Alliance believes in the right to freedom of speech. This includes, though is not limited to, the right to say anything about public policy or alleged matters of fact. If someone wants to say that homosexuals are the spawn of Satan, or that black people are morally or genetically inferior to whites, or that the holocaust did not happen (but should have), or that the Prophet Mohammed was a demon-possessed, epileptic paedophile, that is his right. If he causes offence, hard luck on those offended. They have no right to legal protection against such views.
The libertarian position of homosexuality is equally predicable. The Libertarian Alliance believes that consenting adults have the right to do as they please without intervention by the law. But freedom for homosexuals does not mean legal privilege against the hatred and contempt that others - however unjustly - may feel for them."

The Libertarian Alliance advocates the following with regard to freedom of speech:

No controls of any kind on the expression of opinion on matters of public policy; The repeal of all laws that make it illegal to express opinions on matters of race, religion, sexuality, or any similar matter; The repeal of all laws against discrimination and incitement to discrimination on any grounds whatever; The abolition of the Commission for Racial Equality, the Equal Opportunities Commission, and all similar bodies; The cutting off of all tax-payer funding for any group that disagrees with the above.

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Note to Editors

Dr Sean Gabb is the Director of Communications for the Libertarian Alliance and edits its journal “Free Life”. His latest book, "War and the National Interest: Arguments for a British Foreign Policy", is available at http://www.seangabb.co.uk/buy.htm. His other books are available from Hampden Press at http://www.hampdenpress.co.uk.

The Libertarian Alliance is Britain’s most radical free market and civil liberties policy institute. It has published over 700 articles, pamphlets and books in support of freedom and against statism in all its forms. These are freely available at http://www.libertarian.co.ukOur postal address is

The Libertarian International - http://www.libertarian.to - is a sister organisation to the Libertarian Alliance. Its mission is to coordinate various initiatives in the defence of individual liberty throughout the world.

Sean Gabb's personal website - http://www.seangabb.co.uk - contains about a million words of writings on themes interesting to libertarians and conservatives

Liberalia - http://www.liberalia.com - maintained by by LA Executive member Christian Michel, Liberalia publishes in-depth papers in French and English on libertarianism and free enterprise. It is a prime source of documentation on these issues for students and scholars.